XPO Logistics reports fourth quarter, yearly gains

   XPO Logistics experienced significant growth for the year and in the fourth quarter of 2013, with revenue reaching $257.2 million and gross margin dollars increasing 238.8 percent to $53.1 million, the company reported Monday.
   Revenues increased in all of its business units: freight brokerage, expedited transportation, freight forwarding and corporate, it said.
   “Earnings [loss] before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a non-GAAP financial measure, improved dramatically year-over-year,” XPO reported. “EBITDA was a gain of $343,000 for the quarter, compared with a loss of $9.9 million for the same period in 2012.”
   XPO reported a net loss of $10.6 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $9.3 million for the same period in 2012. 
   The company said it had about $358 million in cash as of Friday.
   Bradley Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer stated, “For the second straight quarter, we increased our gross margin percentage in every one of our business units. Our freight brokerage operations improved gross margin by 110 basis points year-over-year, excluding the benefit of our last-mile acquisitions. And our expedited transportation and freight forwarding units both generated double-digit growth in profitability. We achieved our company-wide targets of positive EBITDA in the quarter and an annual revenue run rate exceeding $1 billion.”
   Its financial targets for 2014 include an annual revenue run rate of at least $2.75 billion by Dec. 31; an annual EBITDA run rate of at least $100 million by Dec. 31; and at least $400 million of acquired historical annual revenue.
   The company has also updated its targets for 2017 — $7.5 billion in revenue and EBITDA of about $425 million.
   For the full year 2013, the company grew its number of deliveries per day to more than 20,000 and opened three freight brokerage cold-starts in Ohio, Virginia and Texas.
   Total revenue for year was $702.3 million, an increase of $152.1 percent from 2012.
   EBITDA for 2013 was a loss of $32 million.
   The year also included six acquisitions, the company said, as well as rebranding of the freight forwarding business unit and enhanced technology.